The present invention relates to a method for receiving digital images from a digital image file and recording corresponding visual images onto a motion picture photosensitive medium.
Digital images can be printed on a photosensitive medium by a system that uses a two-dimensional optical modulator such as a reflective liquid crystal display (LCD). Systems that utilize two-dimensional optical modulators to print digital images to a photosensitive medium are the subject of U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,016,157 and 6,130,740. The digital image presented on the modulator is optically focused on the motion picture photosensitive medium and a source or sources of light is allowed to illuminate the modulator, which then creates a latent image frame on the motion picture photosensitive medium. Common types of photosensitive medium manufactured by the Eastman Kodak Company, for example, used by the motion picture industry is of a fixed width such as 16 mm, 35 mm, or 65 mm and variable length according to the number of images contained on it. In addition there are, in the most common types, a series of perforation holes on each side of the motion picture photosensitive medium along it""s length. A series of related image frames printed on this type of motion picture photosensitive medium in a specific sequence, which differs slightly in image content in a predetermined manner, will produce the visual sensation of movement when projected on a movie screen. This is the method used for over 90 years to project movies in theaters worldwide.
The size and location of the image frame on the motion picture photosensitive medium used to project a movie is defined in the standards published by the Society of Motion Picture Television Entertainment (SMPTE 59-1998). The three most common motion picture photosensitive media in use today are the 16, 35, and 65 mm formats, the most common of which is the 35 mm format. The size of the image frame on the motion picture photosensitive medium is referred to as the aperture image area by the Standards. Over the last 90 years the structure of aperture areas have been defined. Today the most common type used are 35 mm Style C and 35 mm Style A. The motion picture industry commonly refer to the Style C as a Full Aperture frame and the 35 mm Style A as an Academy Aperture frame. The Standard""s definition of aperture image area deals with the length, width, location and orientation of the frame on the motion picture photosensitive medium.
An added variable to the size and location of the frame on the motion picture photosensitive medium is that the digital image can be printed on the motion picture photosensitive medium as either a positive or a negative image. A positive image is representative of a true image wherein a true image representation is one that is easily recognized as having colors and variation in densities that one would observe or expect to see in a real life setting. A negative image is generally understood to be an image where the density and colors are the opposite of the true image, that is high densities on the negative image will be represented by low densities on the positive image and visa versa. In addition the primary colors red, green, and blue in a positive image will most often be represented by cyan, magenta, and blue respectively in a negative image.
The process of creating a full feature motion picture may involve a number of steps in which negative images on the motion picture photosensitive medium (master) are used to optically create positive images on another motion picture photosensitive medium (receiver), and positive images are used to optically create negative images, and so on. This optical printing process has been in use by film processing laboratories throughout the world for as long as the motion picture industry has been in existence. In this optical printing process, the master and receiving motion picture photosensitive media are placed with the emulsion surfaces of each in contact with the other. A source of light is used to expose and create a latent image of the master image on the receiving motion picture photosensitive medium. Because the emulsion surfaces have to face each other, the image between a master and a receiver (when viewed from the emulsion side of the motion picture photosensitive medium) have to be oriented opposite to each other in one dimension transverse to the length of the motion picture photosensitive medium. The digital images created by a two-dimensional optically modulated printer will have to be placed in the proper orientation and location on the motion picture photosensitive medium in accordance with the image types positive or negative.
A two-dimension optical modulator, such as a LCD modulator, used in a digital image printer has a fixed two-dimensional image bearing area. Not only are the two dimensions fixed in size but the resolution is also fixed in size. The resolution is generally defined as the number of independently variable picture elements or pixels that are contained within the fixed area of the modulator. As was stated, the image bearing plane of the modulator is optically focused onto the motion picture photosensitive medium in order to create an image. It is desirable that the entire image bearing area of the modulator be optically focused and dedicated to the creation of an image of a specific aperture type in order to produce the highest possible resolution and quality. The images created for use by the motion picture industry are among some of the highest resolution images created today.
A 35 mm Academy Aperture frame does not use the entire area available for images on the motion picture photosensitive medium, as does a Full Aperture. A negative 35 mm Academy Aperture image frame center point is not aligned to the center point of the available image area, in the dimension between the perforations, on the motion picture photosensitive medium when the image is printed as is defined by the SMPTE standards 59-1998. The offset of the center points between the image frame and the motion picture photosensitive medium is in the opposite direction for a negative as it is for a positive.
In order to have the flexibility to print positive and negative images using the entire available area on the LCD modulator, there must be the proper alignment of the image frame on the motion picture photosensitive medium be provided. A number of methods have been considered, each having benefits and drawbacks. As an example, the total available image area on the modulator could be optically focused on the motion picture photosensitive medium such that it covers the entire available image area on the motion picture photosensitive medium (see U.S. Pat. No. 6,130,740). This method provides the ability to print all aperture types as well as positives and negatives, but the cost can be a loss of resolution when printing an image smaller than the full aperture because only a part of the modulator""s area can be used for imaging. This is a waste of valuable imaging area and a loss in resolution. Yet another way of providing for the need to print positive and negative images can be to have a fixed focus optical system, and the ability to positionally aim this optical system on the motion picture photosensitive medium. Moving an optical system is practical but less desirable than that which is disclosed in the present invention.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a way that minimizes the above noted problems by using two-dimensional optical modulators to effectively record digital images onto a motion picture photosensitive medium while, at the same time, meeting the requirements of the prevailing Standards.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a printer, designed and optimized to print an Academy Aperture, to print both positive and negative images.
These objects are achieved by a method for receiving digital images from a digital image file and recording corresponding visual images onto a motion picture photosensitive medium, comprising the steps of:
a) receiving information related to the image aperture format and image type positive or negative of the digital images to be recorded on the motion picture photosensitive medium;
b) providing at least one two-dimensional optical modulator disposed in an image transfer relationship with the motion picture photosensitive medium and having a predetermined number of pixels such that when the two-dimensional optical modulator is activated, visual images are produced;
c) optically focusing a visual image to be produced by the two-dimensional optical modulator to be recorded onto the motion picture photosensitive medium;
d) sequentially positioning the motion picture photosensitive medium in the image transfer relationship with the modulator""s image plane;
e) secondarily positioning the position of a visual image to be recorded by providing relative movement between the motion picture photosensitive medium and the optical modulator in a direction transverse to the length of the motion picture photosensitive medium and at a position required to position a visual image in accordance with the image aperture format and image type positive or negative of the corresponding digital image; and
f) responding to the digital image file to activate the two-dimensional optical modulator to provide the visual image which represents the digital image or an image plane of the digital image to be recorded so that the motion picture photosensitive medium will record a selected positive or negative visual image in the appropriate position without reduction of the number of pixels provided by the modulator.
It is a feature of the present invention to use a two-dimensional optical modulator, such as an LCD, in an effective manner to convert a digital image from a digital image file into a visual image and to record such visual image at the appropriate position on a motion picture photographic medium in accordance with Standards while maintaining maximum image resolution.
The use of a two-dimensional optical modulator, such as that which is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,330,018, in conjunction with the ability to move the motion picture photosensitive medium relative to the fixed optically focused image or move the modulator relative to the fixed position of the motion picture photosensitive medium or moving both the modulator and the motion picture photosensitive medium provides the ability to align the image more easily on the motion picture photosensitive medium that is required by the Standards. This provides the ability for a system to print Full Aperture, Academy Aperture positive or negative images. In a system that needs only to print Academy Aperture, the variable magnification optics could be replaced with a fixed magnification optics thereby simplifying the design.